


Kadena de Amor

by hakumei_hogosha



Series: Per Your Request [3]
Category: Aldnoah.Zero (Anime)
Genre: Happy Mother's Day, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-09
Packaged: 2018-06-07 07:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6792631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hakumei_hogosha/pseuds/hakumei_hogosha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Neither he nor she recollected the significance and importance of this day. Many years has this day gone not celebrated. Many years has he not have the luxury to think of such holidays and for she, it was perhaps the most painful day of the year.</i>
</p><p>A side story that occurs sometime between final chapter and extra of <em>Regarding Your Inquiry.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Kadena de Amor

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** o/ I'm still active and am definitely going to see to the end of my other ongoing work in progress. Anyhow this is one of many stories I had on the side and of course, struggle to figure where to file away. Blame the OCD in me! I hope you enjoy.

"Free me from the chains of misery, was it?" Slaine asked, rhetorically to himself. He could not necessarily say he was freed from them but perhaps they were no longer of misery.

A smile still spread upon his face. His voice no longer carried bitterness and spite, especially to the person resting on the burgundy couch. Slaine sighed and stood up from his position, having leaned on the backside of the couch. Inaho had fallen asleep on the couch while reading his tablet but it was not an unplanned arrangement on the brunette's part. The brunette had settled underneath a thick khaki blanket. If anything, it was perhaps the ideal setup for an afternoon nap on this cool spring day.

Slaine adjusted the blanket, only to be greeted by a pair of red eyes.

"So you were awake..." Slaine grumbled and headed back to the kitchen.

"The coffee machine gave you away," Inaho explained.

"Oh and it wasn't the--"

"It was not."

Neither spoke and the topic seemed to be immediately dropped as Inaho placed an eye-patch bandage over his left eye.

"The coffee's ready." Slaine informed and was already retrieving a mug from the cabinet.

Inaho couldn't help but smile as the ashen blond's distaste for the color was still obvious. Slaine had bit his lower lip while surveying the cleanness of the orange mug.

"Would you like orange juice instead?" Inaho asked knowing full well what to expect next.

Slaine immediately glared at Inaho, who was now at his refrigerator. It was when Inaho retrieved a particular jar and a package of sandwich bread did Slaine's glare dissipated... a little.

The blond lifted his left hand with the mug to show the bracelet. It was the tracking device Inaho had placed two years prior.

"Well?" Slaine asked, implicitly trying to confirm something they had discussed before.

 _"He's impossible to please."_ Inaho thought to himself yet his smile did not falter.

The brunette walked away from the refrigerator, letting the door close behind him and approached Slaine, who still looked at him expectantly yet clearly becoming more annoyed each silent moment passed. He pressed his lips against the blond's.

"Inaho..." Slaine hissed.

"Of course." Inaho finally answered while not voicing the rest of his train of thought. _"Once more, I'd like to see you spread your wings, Bat."_

 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

A week prior, the two were on idling in the workshop. They were awaiting for further instruction from Yuri and Kirsten, who were bringing in both components and a client's plane. The rain storm outside had compromised and complicated the two's operations.

"They are taking awhile." Slaine commented, arms crossed and pacing.

Inaho had continued working on his laptop. "Delays are to be expected in this weather but they will be fine. They've done this before."

"I know... Yuri's just taking longer than usual."

"Deliveries are busier around this year. He is probably in a long line."

"This time of the year?" Slaine asked.

Inaho didn't answer for he could hear Slaine's footsteps head towards the workshop's bulletin, where a calendar was in place.

 _"Three. Two. One."_ Inaho had mentally counted with respect to Slaine's footsteps.

Any moment, Inaho anticipated a response from Slaine. However there was only silence, which seemed to continue. Inaho removed the laptop from his lap and he dropped down to the floor level.

"Slaine--" Inaho began once behind the ashen blond, who seemed to still be fixated at the calendar.

"Is there a way for you to temporarily remove the distance limitation?" Slaine interjected and turned around to face Inaho.

"Not necessarily but you would--"

Inaho looked to the ashen blond wondering why he would ask such a thing, knowing full well what Slaine was capable of. However Inaho immediately figured out what Slaine had in mind. Slaine had not been looking at him but rather the plane Kirsten and Inaho were working on during their free time.

The brunette smiled as he added. "A magnitude adjustment would suffice."

 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The toaster finished with the bread popping upwards. Excitedly, Slaine grasped the bread and began spreading the jam.

"According to my calculations, you have successfully lathered enough jam to cover four breads onto one bread." Inaho commented, looking over Slaine's shoulder.

"Inaho." Slaine addressed with a familiar grin and slapped the sandwich together.

Inaho faced the ashen blond who flicked at Inaho's bandaged eye before walking to the other side of the counter. They were preparing a picnic basket, which now only lacked the thermos Inaho had finished preparing.

"Please use that more wisely..." Slaine commented in a low voice, slightly with a sense of concern.

The brunette motioned to respond but his chance had gone. The workshop's gate was being opened. Immediately, Slaine had closed the picnic basket and headed to the door, where Inaho handed him the thermos.

"25 miles. 132,000 feet." Inaho told Slaine, whose eyes widened.

"Is-isn't that excessive? We don't even have--" Slaine stuttered and stammered in his words. His face was reddening.

A voice could be heard from below. "Kaizuka... Inaho..."

Slaine peeked outside and could see the source of the voice making her way up the stairs. "That's my cue isn't it...."

"Please." Inaho begged in a quieter voice, much to Slaine's amusement and once again made his way out of the brunette's apartment.

Before walking out to meet his mother, Slaine stopped. "T-thank you."

Inaho smiled and rested his left hand on the bandaged eye. "It is being used wisely." Inaho answered.

 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Slaine. You can't!" Kirsten argued as her son rested the picnic basket on her lap.

"It's fine." Slaine nonchalantly said to his mother. It obviously was falling to deaf ears.

Slaine entered the cockpit and gave a thumbs up to Yuri who was directing him out of the workshop.

"All clear, Chibi! Now have a good time you two and take your time. 'Naho and I got the homestead! Now fly! Fly!" Yuri yelled as Slaine was perfectly lined up to go.

Kirsten then blinked as there was a moment of delay, a lag of some sort.

"Slaine... dear..."

"Yes, Mom?"

"I forgot to ask but do you know how to--"

"... Th... Theoretically."

Her heart sank.

"Slaine, I'm thankful for the gesture but maybe I should be--"

She grit her teeth hard, warding off the possibility of biting her tongue. For a moment, she thought she had shut her eyes shut or her mind had went blank. The lift was perfectly smooth minus the rapid start and now they were gliding ever upward into the sky.

It was only when her ears began to pop that she regained her senses. She recognized Slaine's trajectory as they looped and once more he rose ever skyward... until it seemed the reached a standstill and they started to fall, tail first.

"A... bell tailslide?" Kirsten recognized and Slaine recovered and settled at an altitude.

Notably, he was heading now more westward and picking up speed. She chuckled for she knew what he was preparing to do.

"A flat spin next, Slaine?"

He laughed and as they spun for a momentarily. "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"Where do you think you got it from?" She couldn't help pride herself. Her eyes were watering and she knew her son could hear her sniffling from her voice. Kirsten had not thought the day would come when she would be flying with her son. 

"Hard to say. I think I can outdo you."

"Oh really... how about a Stall turn and a Split S maneuver?"

"..."

"Can't do it?"

Kirsten could hear a muffled chuckle and immediately she could feel Slaine maneuver the craft into the ideal position for the tricks. Little did she know however he had more in store.

 

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Slaine's mother awoke as she heard the propellers come to a stop and noticed they had landed. She grimaced, knowing full well she had passed out from an increased in G after the many Cuban Eight tricks and Stall Turns Slaine had performed.

"Mom. Are you all right?" Slaine asked when reaching her seat.

Her gaze met a matching pair of turquoise eyes and nodded before surveying where they were. They were not back at the workshop.

"Where... are we?"

In her peripheral, she noticed her son's eyes become downcast and his smile lessened. Oddly though he was somewhat blushing. Before long, he took the picnic basket from her lap and walked off the wing and to the ground. He offered a hand for his mother to come down.

"I had hoped to take you to the one place I remembered."

Kirsten took his hand and was led to a decrepit picnic table where he rested the picnic table. He gestured for her to sit but she did not. Her eyes had focused elsewhere and her breath stifled. She bit her lower lip and turned her gaze to the ground. It wouldn't be long before Slaine noticed.

"I was sure this was the right clearing considering this table but..." Slaine commented and soon his voice trailed off. Something caught his eye.

"Slaine." She addressed in a far too quiet and soft voice.

Kirsten tightened her hands, forming fists. She had to get a hold of herself and went to reach Slaine. However this initially impossible, possibility had played so often in her mind.

Slaine had found what she had feared deep in her heart. He was not in her reach and perhaps never was. Gently as if to slowly spite her, Slaine grasped the vines covering, perhaps guarding and hiding an ornate stone.

Her son surely could identify the stone and there was nothing she could do but brace for the worst. The stone was too well taken care of for her to excuse its coincidental location. This was the place their family had once frequented. She could not lie once he saw the words engraved on the stone. After all it was the grave she had made for her husband and son.

 _"This flower... and this grave..."_ Kirsten thought would be the next words her son would say and continue. _"Was this to comfort yourself? Free you of your familial relation? Of your guilt? Of your responsibility?"_

She surely believed any moment he would face her, hurt and angry. He would speak bitterly of the unspoken strained relation they have. Not once had he asked why she did not stop his father and him from going to Mars. Not once did he condemn her for not seeking him out all this time.

Now they could no longer continue this charade. There were no pretty words she could offer for they could be so easily twisted into despicable acts and signs of pettiness. Everything now had to be made bare and the longer she delayed, the less truthful she may seem to him.

"This flower..." He began and cradled one among the vine; he no longer looked at the stone.

A chuckle escaped his lips much to Kirsten's displeasure. There was a tinge of bitterness and spite; it was unlike his devious chuckle when they soared.

"Slaine..." She began and grasped her hands. Kirsten gulped back the sob that was threatening to surface. She had no excuse for what had transpired these past years but even so she had to press forward. They had the present and the ever approaching future. Surely they can make something of it. She hoped. She prayed. She wanted to believe.

He turned to her and she was met with surprise. Her voice escaped her as his turquoise eyes were watery and there was no sight of anger. If anything there was nothing except sadness and regret about his demeanor.

"This flower.. it's a cadena." He identified.

Slaine looked to her inquiring if he was right and her voice remained hitched back in her throat, uncooperative to her. She could only nod and again Slaine smile sadly. He once again turned to the vines and removed one of the flowers, walking to her.

"In some cultures, this flower is associated with bad luck." Slaine went and finally stopped before his mother. He brushed some of her fringe and hair to the side, revealing her left ear. There, he placed the pink flower and continued. "But in others, the cadena de amor is also known as the chain of love... and given it's pink coloration..."

Kirsten could feel tears rolling down her cheeks and she rested her face on her palms. Silently she wept and her son hugged her.

"My heart is yours."

Again he chuckled and freed his mother from his tight hug. She looked up to her son, who was blushing. The feelings and words she struggled to convey had been delivered.

Her son wiped her tears and mumbled. "I do hope thought... most of that is to... Dad... or perhaps more loosely, you mean your heart was with us..."

She grinned. "Oh... I see how it is. Japanese boy has--"

Instantly her son's cheeks blared red and he vehemently denied such a claim. Kirsten laughed and laughed until she could not breathe. They did not need to overthink what had been done. There was nothing more to it.

"Mom."

"Yes?" Kirsten responded, finally catching her breath.

Her son had paused and she could tell he was struggling to say something. She was sure there were many things he wanted to say but it was still too early for him to convey them. It was only recently he had told her about the scars and his relation to the empress and Inaho. The discussion had left her son tired and despondent for several days. Maybe now was another time Slaine wanted to tell her about his time on Mars and space.

Kirsten worriedly gazed at her son and went to grasp his hand, as a means to comfort him. To once more remind him that he need not hurry and that she would wait for however long he needs.

That was not the case. He had risen his downcast eyes to her and warmly smiled. Instead of her grasping his, Slaine had seized her hand and grasped in both of his.

"Thank you. Thank you for teaching me the beauty of Earth." He started.

Kirsten's hand shuddered and she grit her teeth. A tear and another began to slowly fall from her face as her son went on. Thanking her for her patience. Thanking her for giving him shelter. Thanking her for being his mother.

He paused as the last caused his mother to sob loudly and once more, Slaine wrapped his arms around his mother. It was the one thing he knew his mother did not think he would say. Surely they both had thought of what could have been their life without Aldnoah but it mattered not. Rather than dwelling and considering possibilities for days gone past, they had the present and there was no better day than today to start thinking that way. After all today was significant and Slaine was determined to make sure his mother knew.

He whispered into her ear, "Happy Mother's Day."

**Author's Note:**

>  **A/N2:** Kadena de Amor refers to a flower often found growing in graveyards and sometimes considered bad luck. On the other hand, Kadena de Amor refers to Chain of Love and Bride's tears. White ones signify "my love is pure" whereas pink ones signify "my heart is yours," as Slaine says. Another thing to note, Inaho's use of 'magnitude' refers to extending Slaine's 4km (2.5 miles) limit to 40km (25 miles). 
> 
> **A/N3:** The inspiration behind this was a tale I heard about the flower and also deep down my hope of Slaine's mother canonically speaking was not entirely a bad person. Like Slaine, I had viewed her as someone that had good intentions or her heart was in the right place but for reasons she could and could not control, things played out as it did... :|


End file.
